


Neil, there’s a strange kid in the middle of your living room…

by FreakingOutGirl



Series: Son of a Exy! [9]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Aaron is a very worried uncle, Aaron is worried about Andrew and Luke, Allison is planning her next fashion line, Andrew doesn't give a shit about their opinion, F/M, Kevin only thinks about Exy, M/M, Nicky is jet-lagged, Renee is calming everyone, The foxes meet Luke for the first time, and a bit about Neil, dan is pregnant, everyone is shocked
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 03:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11073555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreakingOutGirl/pseuds/FreakingOutGirl
Summary: Neil invites the Foxes to stay at his and Andrew's place, so they can meet Luke. How will the first meeting go?





	Neil, there’s a strange kid in the middle of your living room…

 

“Tell me I’m not the only person seeing this…” Allison fake-whispered to the people around her.

The entire old team of Neil’s first year in Palmetto was currently crowding under his living room’s threshold, looking at something inside the room.

“Neil, there’s a strange kid in the middle of your living room…” Nicky said, looking behind him and trying to find Neil that was still closer to the front door than the living room, arranging everyone's bags in less of a mess.

 Between Nicky and Allison, the first ones of the group, and Neil, their team was trying to peek over each other’s shoulders with one exception. Renee was smiling at Neil, her eyes glued to the kid-sized Exy racquet next to the door.

“ _What?_ ” Neil asked, in a shocked tone and quickly walked through the group to stop next to Nicky.

“Who are you?” the black-haired, blue-eyed kid asked, with his eyes fixed on the group of adults.

“ _Who are you?_ ” Neil asked back and he felt Nicky freeze next to him.

Through the corner of this eye, he could see Matt trying to step in front of Dan and her big belly, in a protective gesture. Aaron had his phone out, probably ready to call the police, while Kevin’s hands closed in fists.

The boy rolled his eyes and changed his attention to the cats jumping around him on the floor.

“Your funny bone is showing…” a voice commented from inside the living room and Nicky noticed, for the first time, a head of blond hair over the couch. Apparently, Andrew didn’t deem them important enough for him to turn around and welcome them into his house.

When Andrew actually turned around, after a few seconds of awkward silence, he looked from the kid to Neil that was now sporting a mischievous smile and again to the kid.

“Shouldn’t you be finishing your math homework? Last I checked counting cats was not one of the exercises…” Andrew drawled and the boy looked up to face him.

“I already finished it…” and seeing Andrew’s suspicious expression, he continued. “Dad helped me…”

Andrew turned to Neil and scoffed.

“I remember it was supposed to be done without help, Neil…”

Nicky groaned beside Neil and rubbed his head.

“God, I must be even more jet-lagged, because I could swear the kid just called Neil…”

“ _Dad?_ Is that Nicky? Old man was right, he is weird…” the boy asked, completing Nicky’s sentence, with a smirk on his lips.

The group turned to Neil as one, and Neil actually stepped back a bit, his palms up.

“Matt, great game yesterday, by the way!” the boy said and Matt looked at him with shining eyes and a bright grin on his face. He only controlled himself when Aaron elbowed him and scoffed at his reaction to the kid’s words.

“Okay, okay!” Dan called, arms in the air, belly pushing everyone out of her way, until she was in front of the group. “What the hell is going on here? And don’t tell me nothing, or I swear to God, I’m gonna pop this kid out right now!” Dan threatened Neil, pointing at her belly.

“Luke, come here…” Neil said and the boy rose from the floor to join the group. Andrew was no longer looking at them, his attention on the TV, or so it looked like.

When the boy closed the distance between them, the Foxes could observe him all they wanted. Allison noticed his expressive eyes and messy hair, Kevin his defensive stance that could look good in a court, Dan and Matt the way he stood next to Neil with an easy familiarity, Aaron his hoodie that he was sure was one of his brother’s old ones full of claw marks, Nicky the cat that he was still clutching (that always tried to bite all the other Foxes every time they tried to hold him) and Renee his expression that looked tranquil, but was a protective disguise against a possible threat.

“This is Luke… our son…” Neil said, an uncontainable smile appearing on his lips, like the mere words brought him so much happiness.

“Oh…” Aaron was the first to react and his eyes jumped to his twin, who had his back to them, but had turned the TV down to hear everything happening behind him.

Nicky’s eyes widen, and then he started laughing, in a slightly maniacal way.

“Sorry…” he said. “The jet-lag made me react weird…” Nicky tried to say, while cleaning his eyes. And then, before anyone could stop him or actually react in any way, he opened his arms and almost crushed Luke against his frame. “Welcome to the family, baby Luke!” he gushed over the kid, until his old teammates pried him away.

“Are you aware that if he was like Andrew, right now we would be calling for an ambulance? Or a coffin?” Allison mocked, flicking his forehead. “It’s good to know you still lack self-preservation instincts…”

Dan had a hand on her forehead and was sighing.

“Dan? Are you okay? Do you need a chair?” Neil suggested, seeing her paling at the news.

“He is afraid you will dirty his carpet if you have the kid right now…” Andrew piped in from the couch and Neil frowned at the back of his head.

“Well, it is a very nice carpet…” Matt commented and Dan chuckled under her breath, but nonetheless accepted the chair that Luke brought to her.

“Most important of all!” Kevin said, elbowing people to join the front of the group. “Can he play?”

Everyone groaned and turned to Kevin with exasperated expression.

“Neil just tells us he adopted a kid with Andrew and that’s the first thing you think about?” Nicky asked. “And you tell me I’m crazy…”

“Actually, I do play!” Luke said, chest puffing with pride. “I’m the best goalkeeper in my school!”

Neil messed Luke’s hair even more, a fond smile on his face.

“So, how long?” Renee asked, her calm demeanor a good reprieve from Kevin and Nicky’s reactions.  

“Going on six months…” Neil said, while finally, starting for the couches.

Andrew moved from his position to sit next to Luke, with Neil sitting on the boy's other side, while the rest choose among the available chairs and smaller couch.

“I’m very proud of you for making this choice… I’m sure it wasn’t easy…” Renee continued and Neil actually sighed. They were the first people they told about this, with one exception, not even Wymack, Abby or their current teams knew about Luke. Betsy knew, since bringing a kid home would cause some changes in their lives, from their interaction with Luke to how to explain about their pasts and Andrew would need to discuss that with her, but since she was under patient-doctor confidentiality, they knew she wouldn’t tell anyone. But, since Neil never got involved in Andrew and Betsy’s conversations, it was the first time someone actually said those words to him, and he would be lying if he said they didn’t make him feel calmer.

Even after bringing Luke home, Neil was scared he might not be cut to be a parent. Not having a great example of a father was one of the reasons, the other the constant fear of not being able to make a child happy, of failing to protect him from all the dangers in the world. In those moments, all the awful stuff that happened to them, but especially to Andrew, would come to the forefront of his mind and he would have to lock himself in the bathroom to hide his almost panic-attack. And then, Wymack’s hug when he hold him after Evermore, or how he stood by him against the FBI, how he smiled so proudly when he graduated, or how he never asked for his keys back, even after Neil left Palmetto and went to a Pro team, would jump into his mind and he would take his example from that man instead of another one that only brought him pain and fear.

But Luke was happy, Neil could see that it in the way he played pranks on them, on how he jumped around the cats, how he recounted every game of his team with excitement, how, however it didn’t look like it, he was very excited to meet the Foxes and make sure Neil wasn’t exaggerating every time he talked about how they gave him a family for the first time in his life and how he would gladly give his life for them, even grumpy Aaron (Andrew would always roll his eyes at the face Neil made when talking about Aaron, a mix of comradery and the desire to punch his face).

“Yes, it’s amazing!” Dan said finally.

“And this way, Luke can help babysit our kid!” Matt’s voice boomed after Dan and Neil grimaced a little. _Babies… he was not so sure he could handle them…_

But Nicky was already nodding, with shiny eyes, probably planning a Disneyland Paris trip, and Allison was measuring Luke’s size with her eyes, doubtlessly creating a child’s clothes line for next season.

“Am I the only one worried in here?” Aaron finally asked, his eyes fixed on his twin brother.

Andrew moved his blank stare to Aaron, waiting for him to continue.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see you so well adjusted, but… A kid? It’s a big responsibility!” Aaron’s tone took the same inflection he used with his patients, but no one pointed that out. “Are you ready to deal with him if something happens? Can you even let him hug you?”

Everyone stopped breathing at Aaron’s words and not even Nicky’s dark look or Renee’s sigh made him stop.

“What about everything that happened before?” they all knew he was talking about Andrew’s and Neil’s past, more Andrew’s, being him a foster child as well.

“He knows everything he needs to know now.” Andrew said, and Luke looked down at his black armbands.

“Old man can hug me!” Luke said suddenly and Aaron actually jumped at hearing this. “Not always, I can understand it’s hard for him, but he is able to, when I need… If hugs were given at the toss of a coin, they would lose their importance, don’t you think? Besides, not everyone that hugs easily is a good person… I’m sure all of you know that…” but he only looked at Aaron and he wondered if Luke knew about the twins’ troubled mother, and, if he knew, Aaron hoped Andrew didn’t tell him his part in her death. “Besides, I know I will learn some things in the future. I’m not stupid, I know I shouldn’t learn about everything yet… But I like it in here, I like the cats and my room and my school… And when dad makes me tuna sandwiches with mayonnaise and when old man helps me train in the back yard…” Luke shut up then, looking at the floor, and everyone looked around, trying to give the kid some kind of space. It was probably the first time he had to defend his place in that house and it took a toll on him.

“Andrew hates cartoons…” Aaron suddenly said.

“I know…” Luke replied. “That’s why I make him watch them with me…”

Everyone sighed in relieve at their way of cutting the tension and Neil rose, like he had just ran miles nonstop.

“So, who is going to help me get lunch ready?” he asked, and surprisingly, Aaron rose.

“I have to make sure you cook healthy stuff for the kid, I don’t want to see him in my hospital, unless it’s for a scratched knee…” Aaron replied, but everyone knew he probably wanted to say sorry for his words, and probably make sure that Neil was keeping not only Luke, but especially Andrew, afloat.

“Well, I’m going to take care of the bags…” Matt said. “C’mon, Minyard, show us that goalkeeper strength and help me…” Matt requested, pointing at everyone bags’ that were forgotten by the front door.

“By the way, kiddo, what’s your name?” Nicky asked.

Luke thought about a sarcastic remark, but then gave up.

“Luke Minyard-Josten… _With an hyphen_...”

Nicky squealed so high, Allison had to cover his mouth to keep him from deafening everyone around them.

“By the way, you can call us uncles and aunts…” Dan suggested and everyone nodded.

“Maybe I should start now…” Luke said and then looked at Dan pointedly. “Aunt Dan, I think your waters just broke…”


End file.
